Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Love Song, Part 1: Faithful Attraction

Episode Date: October 25, 2014

God knew what He was doing when He created love and sex. In fact, He wrote the book on it. You’ll be amazed at what God had in mind when He wrote the ultimate Love Song. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Looking for love in the club, you couldn't be more wrong. Don't be surprised when that girl you like ain't who you'd bring home to your mom. You want to meet the rock. You've got to be. Well, it is awesome to have all of you with us today at all of our life churches and our network churches and people from all over the world at church online. Before we dive into the first part of a brand new series, I need to take a moment and give God praise and glory and honor that on this weekend,

We're celebrating over 1,600 people being baptized at all of our LifeSurch.tv location. Just amazing to me to think about the stories, the sin that's forgiven, the transformed lives. And for every single one of you, I celebrate with you new life in Christ and your public confession that I belong to Jesus and I'm following him. I'm living for him. what a special day, and I don't ever want to take it for granted to see this many people publicly profess that Jesus is their Savior and their Lord. It's amazing to be a part of something that God is doing like this. And what I want to do today is we're going to dive into part one of a five-part message series called Love Song. We're actually going to look at the book of Song of Solomon.

This is in your Old Testament. If you have not read the book of Song of Solomon, it will make you blush. Okay, this is God's word, and it is surprisingly intense. Let me give you a little background. The book was written somewhere around the year 965 BC, so about 1,000 years before Christ was born. When you study this book, you can approach it from one of two different ways. One way is you can look at it as kind of an allegory. A beautiful picture of God's love for Israel or Christ's love for the church.

The other way to approach it is just kind of point blank. This is a love story between a man and a woman that are very passionate in their pursuit of one another. That's the way we're going to look at it because, quite honestly, we're seeing our spiritual enemy do damage to marriages. And I'm sick of it. We're sick of it. And we believe that God's going to help us take background in marriages. So let me tell you what we're going to cover in the next five weeks. Next week we're going to talk about how do you pursue someone when you're dating?

how do you pursue in a godly way when you're married? How do you continue to pursue one another? Week number three, we're going to look at the gift of lovemaking. And let me tell you what, you will not want to miss any week. You definitely will not want to miss that week. Week number four, we're going to talk about working through conflict as we watch this couple actually get in a fight and resolve their disagreement in a way that honors God.

Week number five, we're going to talk about how do we build a foundation that will allow the marriage to go the distance, not just survive, but to truly thrive and to really grow in intimacy with one another. Today what I want to do is I want to talk about attraction. Those of you that are not yet married and hope to be one day, what are the qualities that you would build within yourself to attract the right type of person? What do you want to look for? What should attract you to the right type of person?

If you are married, these are qualities. Of course, we want to build into our own lives. so that we can continue to grow closer to God and closer to one another. Now, if those of you are single and you ever decide to use an online dating service, there are a lot of funny things I could say about online dating, but the bottom line is I know a ton of great marriages that have come out of online dating. So I won't make fun of it. It is a legitimate tool, but you need to know that everything you read about people is not necessarily true.

You want to say amen at any point? That's fair enough, okay? And so when people say certain things about themselves, they are not always representing all of the truth. In fact, I want to help just kind of decode what some of the language actually means on online dating services. This is really in the Bible. This is mostly just for fun, but it's also helpful. Okay. So if a woman says I'm 40-ish, that means she's 49 and a half.

If a guy says he's 40-ish, that means he's 52 and he's. and he's looking for a 25-year-old. Run for us, run. Okay, that's just that, you know, that's what you need to know. If a guy says he's huggable, that means he's carrying a few extra pounds and has more body hair than Sasquatch, okay? If a woman says she's romantic,

that means she looks better by candlelight. No offense meant just saying. If that offends you, I'm sorry, if it doesn't. I will offend you too. I'm an equal rights offender. If a guy says I'm laid back and very close to my family, that means he still lives at home. He's unemployed and he hopes you have a good paying job.

You need to know this. This is really helpful. If she says, I'm bubbly and I'm fun, that means she never shuts up. If a lady says, I'm an independent woman, that means she has control issues. she will dominate you and make you like it. If he says I'm average looking,

that means he fell from the ugly tree and he hit every branch on the way down. Okay? So anyway, that's just, you know, I hope that doesn't make you run out and call me a heretic, but it is true, through and through. What I want to do now to be more serious

is I want to talk directly about four specific qualities that we're going to find in this love song, between Solomon and the Shulamite woman, four specific qualities that you want to develop in yourself if you want to attract the right person. And at the same time, these are four qualities you want to see in the person that you would court toward marriage. If you're taking notes, the first thing in the book most important quality we want to develop, number one, is godly character. We're looking for it and we are developing it. In fact, in verse two and three of chapter one,

This is what the Shulamite woman says about the man. She says, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. For your love is more delightful than wine. All right, Amy, memorize that verse in five different translations. Okay. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes. She says, your name, everybody say your name? Your name is like perfume poured out.

No wonder the young women love you. Your name is like perfume poured out. What I want you to see is the first thing that she's attracted to is his character. She's not saying, hey, no wonder the other women love you because you're a haughty with a body. What she's saying is your name, your character is like perfume poured out. In fact, this perfume she was talking about was a very valuable and rare commodity. What was more rare during that time was baths, okay? And so to have this very valuable and costly perfume or oil,

it was a way kind of to cleanse yourself so you could be more presentable in public. She says, your character is like this very valuable purified oil. There's a difference between reputation and character, right? Reputation is who others think you are. Character is who you really are. Your name. Your character is godly. You seek God first.

You want to honor God in all that you do. No wonder the other women long for you because your name is good. You've got godly character. This is the first and most important thing we want to attract the right type of person. In other words, if you want a godly marriage one day, start living a godly life today. If you want to have a godly marriage in the future, live a godly life today. Now, some of you may say, but the problem is I always attract the wrong type of person. You know, I'm a girl, but the guys who come after me, they're only interested in one thing.

If I could just say this very lovingly, if you don't like the kind of fish you're catching, maybe you should look at the kind of bait you're using. Okay? I don't mean to be harsh, but let's call it what it is. You know, if every guy's only out for one thing, it's maybe because you're always going to the bar to get your twerk on, okay? And I'm serious about this. You know, if you're only attracting the wrong type of person, listen, like attracts like. If you want someone who loves God, when you pursue God, you are more likely to attract that type of person. I would argue all day long, having a great marriage is not

so much about finding the right person as it is becoming the right person. You seek God, you pursue God, You love Jesus. You put him first in your life and then like will attract like. My friend, Pastor Andy Stanley, he says it this way. He says, become the person you are looking for is looking for. I like that. Become the person that you are looking for is looking for. You start with godly character.

I'm not pursuing a spouse. I'm pursuing Jesus. I'm seeking him first in his kingdom, his right. And then, Matthew 633, everything else will be added unto me. So where are we going to start? Godly character. Listen, if they're not followers of Jesus and you're a follower of Jesus, they are not even on the list of candidates.

We seek him first. We develop godly character and then we pursue those who have godly character. The second thing that we're going to find in this story is we want to develop a growing trust in a relationship with someone that we value. you. We want to see a growing trust. In fact, in verses five and six, I want you to see what this woman says as she starts to open up about something that she feels insecure about in her own life. She says this, verse five, dark am I, yet lovely daughters of Jerusalem? Dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Now, she's saying, my skin is very dark. In our

culture today, a lot of people want to be dark. In fact, if you're not dark enough, you'll go to a tanning bed until you look like a suitcase. That's what some people do, right? Okay, in their culture, it wasn't this way at all. In fact, to be dark was considered to be ugly. What they believed is, you know, if you came from a family of prominence, you didn't have to work out in the fields, and so therefore lighter skin was considered more attractive. She says, I'm dark, and she's very insecure about this. Verse six, she shows it. She says, do not stare at me because I am dark because I'm darkened by the sun. I'm sunburned. I'm embarrassed by this. And then she says, my mother's sons were angry with me, my brothers, and they made me take care of the vineyards.

I had to work outside and do manual labor. And then she says, my own vineyard, which is her body. We're going to see her talk about her body as a vineyard over and over and over again. She says, my own vineyard, I had to neglect. Watch what she's doing. She's getting to know this guy, and she's opening up about her vulnerabilities. I'm embarrassed because, my skin is darker than I would like it to be. She's slowly revealing her insecurities. And this is what you do as you're getting to know someone. You start to slowly reveal your insecurities and then you watch to see if you're building trust. He sees an opportunity. And what he's going to do is he's going to love her insecurities away. He's going to love her in spite of where she feels vulnerable. And what

I've noticed in relationships is most often we start with physical. insecurities. There's something about my body I don't like, you know, my, my, you know, I have more weight on than I'd like, or my hair's thinning, or there's some feature in my face I don't like. And then, after dealing with those, we start to go to even deeper, more emotional insecurities. For me, I can remember when I met Amy 25 years ago, I was really insecure. It sounds silly to you, but when I was in the fifth grade, I had a crush on a girl named Ashley. I was swinging on her, swing with her in the back. And she said, you're not bad looking, except you have an ugly profile. I was like, that doesn't make me feel good. I didn't know what a profile was. I'm like, what's

her profile? She said, you know, from the front you look good, but from the side, you've got a really big nose. It's like, no, I don't. She said, yes, you do. It's huge. I said, no, it's not. And because I'd only see myself in the front, because when you look in a mirror, that's how you see yourself. I went home, held up a mirror, looked sideways at my nose. I was like, oh, crap, I do have a big nose. And so, all I knew is the first girl I liked, didn't like my nose. every time I met a girl, I would try to keep my conversation face to face. I don't want to, you know, I just talk to her like this. You know, I never wanted to see me from the side.

So here I am, I'm getting close to Amy. And in the back of my mind, I'm thinking she would probably marry me, but she's thinking, if I have kids with him, they're going to have that nose, you know. And so I opened up to her about it. And I never will forget, it was so meaningful how she reassured me. I said, you know, it was like this massively vulnerable mom. I mean, I care about you, and I know if we have kids, they might have this nose, and it's so big. And she's like, your nose.

I love your nose. And then she came up to me, and she started touching it. She said, you have a strong, sexy Roman nose. You want to touch it again? You can touch it all you want. Stroke that nose, you know. Now, for the record, she debates and says she doesn't say sexy. She did say at least wrong, wrong.

but I choose to remember sexy was in there somewhere. I'm suddenly like, man, I'm like, anytime I'm just walking around like this, hey, check this out. Sexy Roman knows, you know. And here, in that tender moment, she was loving and insecurity away. And I remember she opened up about some physical insecurity. I'm looking at her going, you're perfect, and she's like, I don't like this about myself. But then it went to more emotional. And I remember her telling me, you said, I don't know if I can really trust you because all guys

lie and all guys cheat and all this kind of stuff. And she was opening up about her more emotional insecurities. And I remember thinking, I am going to love those insecurities away. I'm going to show you. And she would tell you today, after 23 years of marriage, that not all guys cheat and not all guys lie, that there are some who will treat a woman honorably with respect and dignity. And the word will be good. And I remember, it was, it was a precious moment. We're opening up, and now we have an opportunity to grow in trust as we love these insecurities away. So if you're dating someone and you're feeling worse about yourself and you feel discouraged, this is not a good sign.

What you want is growing trust and intimacy. So we see godly character. We see growing trust. The third thing we see is higher standards. This is so important. Higher standards. Verse seven, the woman says this to the man. Tell me, you whom I love.

where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Now watch what she says. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends? I'm not going to be like those veiled women. Now, if I can be gentle for a moment, a veiled woman was known as someone who would give themselves to men for a price. I don't want to be any more direct than that. I think you can figure it out. She says there's some things I'm not going to do to get you.

I'm not going to be like them. Here's the bottom line. In our culture today, it is totally completely acceptable to have sex before marriage. Everybody else does it. It's also normal today to have screwed up marriages, marriages that do not last, marriages that fall apart. So the bottom line for me is if you want what everyone else has, do what everyone else does. If you want something better, something different, you're going to have to do something different. And God has a different standard than the world today.

It may sound ancient or archaic, but the bottom line is, God says, the gift of lovemaking is reserved for marriage, and that is it. So when you're dating, you have one of two choices when it comes to sex between the two of you. Option number one is you can mutually decide to honor God. We are going to honor God together. We are waiting. We believe he has something better. We believe we're going to honor him with sexual purity.

Everyone may make fun of us, but we do not care. Option number one is you can honor God together. Option number two is you can sin together. That's it, period. You sin together. You honor God together or you sin together. Which foundation do you want to build your future marriage upon? The choice is yours.

I was not perfect before I was a Christian. My wife was not perfect in this category before she was a Christian. But by the grace of God when we met each other, we were both followers of Christ. And so we decided to wait. And I am absolutely and completely convinced that one of the major reasons why we have the marriage that we do today is because we honored God together in the dating time and built a foundation upon putting God first in our relationship. I'm convinced with all my heart. The choice is yours. The choice is completely yours if you are not married yet.

And your honeymoon, listen, if you decide to have sex for marriage, it'll be fun and all that kind of stuff. It still feels good, but you go on your honeymoon, and it will simply be another night at the office. Business as usual, okay? Let me tell you, I can't tell you a whole lot about my honeymoon, but I will tell you, when we got married and we were in that receiving line after the church, we're like, let's get out of here. They can eat cake by themselves. And I had about a two and a half mile drive from the church to the little bed and breakfast place I'd rented. I'd been there 10 times.

I was so excited and nervous. I got lost on a two and a half mile drive. Help me, Jesus, you know. And I remember carrying her upstairs to our little room, and when we came in there together, let me tell you what we did. We prayed together, okay, right after we were married, and I read God's word to her.

And that's all I'm going to tell you, okay? Because it didn't last long, you know. But let me tell you, it was, I cannot believe I just said that. Somebody stopped me now. Praise God, Amy was at church yesterday and not at this moment, okay? And it's the most holy and righteous and spiritual moment to say, God has given us this gift and we waited. And there's something that no one can ever take away from us.

No one can ever take that away from us. You will build your relationship on a foundation. You can honor God together or you can send together. So let me just call it what it is. A lot of you right now, you're married going, well, we kind of messed that one up, didn't we? Okay? Just a little bit awkward right now, okay? I don't want to go and heap guilt on anybody because you cannot change the past.

But I've heard of couples who didn't do it right, and I've heard of them praying to God together and just, you know, 15 years into marriage saying, God, would you forgive us for that? I've heard of husbands apologizing to wives and saying, you know what? If I knew then, what I know now, I wouldn't have done that. And if I had it to do over again, I would honor you in this way. So we're not going to heap guilt on you for the past or whatever, but what we are going to do is say, from this day forward, we're going to always pursue God first and honor him with purity.

We're going to build a relationship on honoring God together, not sinning together. Okay? You want everybody else has? Do what they all do. You want something different. Be different. Follow God's standards. There's a character.

There's a growing trust. There's a higher standard. And number four, there's this consistent encouragement. We're going to watch, as this couple loves one another, all through the chapters of this book with the consistent encouragement. She says, I feel insecure about my skin. It's too dark. Verse nine, he says this.

I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh's chariot horses. to a mare. So basically, he calls her an adult female horse. This needs some explanation. Okay. The first time I heard this taught was probably 20 years ago. A man named Tommy Nelson taught on this, and I never will forget how much I learned from him.

I have to give him credit for so much. He said this. He said that this Pharaoh's horse was actually a white horse that pulled the Pharaoh's chariot, and that this horse was literally related to deity. People believed that. They believed it was like a godly creature, that this animal was the prized and most esteemed animal. And it's white in nature.

So she's saying, my skin is dark, and he's saying, no, you're the most prized possession to me. You're like a spiritual creature. And then she's worried about her skin being dark, and he says, no, no, no, no, you're like a white horse to me. and encourages her with these words. You see, if you continue to spend time with somebody and you find yourself feeling worse about yourself,

that is not a good sign. During the courting process, man, you want to see him bending over backwards to win you, pursue you, and you do the same for him. You're encouraging one another. When I was dating Amy, I was becoming and I became a United Methodist pastor

for five years. I had the honor of serving as United Methodist pastor. In the back of my mind, though, I knew that most Methodist people, pastors don't ever own a home. They live in what's called a parsonage, and it's a home picked by the church. The furniture is picked by people that's not you. And I remember thinking, I want to give my wife whatever she wants, but I may put her in some home. We never picked, and we may not own a home, and we may never have our own furniture. I remember telling her that, I said, you know, if you marry me,

this is the way it is going to be. You know, we'll live in a parsonage, and I felt very, I wanted to be able to give her something different instead of what, you know, I'm blabbering. But anyway, she looked at me and she said, I never will forget. She said, you are called by God. And I believe in his calling on your life. And I would rather live in a tent with you than in a mansion with anyone else. It's like, oh, you are so mine. You know, and it was just, you know, that's what I needed.

It's like, yeah, yeah, we'll live in a tent. We won't even need to build a fire because it keeps going to be so hot in our tent. You know, and it's like, that's what. I needed to hear. She believes in my calling, and it's not about what we have. It's about who we are. And you love each other in that way with this godly encouragement. Oh, you feel insecure because your skin is dark. You're like a beautiful white horse. You're like the most prized animal in all of the kingdom. You are special to me. Then in verse 15 and 16, notice what he says. He says, how beautiful you are, my darling. Oh, how beautiful. Your eyes are doves. How handsome you are,

my beloved, she says. How beautiful. Now, watch this. What's the last thing we see come up? The physical attraction. First, we saw character. We saw growing trust. We saw encouragement, and physical attraction is important, but it's last in the values of what we see being expressed. Guys, here's the really good news. The way girls are wired totally works in your favor. You can be average looking, okay? Not so hot. But when you love her as Christ loved the church, she starts to think you're better looking.

It works great. It's my secret weapon. I know it firsthand, okay? I have more nose than the average man, but my wife thinks it's strong and sexy and a Roman nose. Why? Because when you love them and you lay down their life to serve them and you cherish them and you value them,

there's something in a woman that suddenly you become more attractive to her, and she esteems you, and she wants to have children with you, and she wants to grow old with you. you lay down your life to serve her. With godly character, seeking God first, leading her closer to the things that matter most. When she reveals her insecurities to you

and you love her through those insecurities, when you build trust together, suddenly you fall romantically and passionately in love. It's a byproduct. It's not the cause of love. It's a byproduct of love. Then I want to show you the result. Two things this one.

woman feels, and this is so encouraging. The first thing is she feels special. Here's what she says. She says, I am a rose of Sharon. Singular rose, a lily of the valleys. She says this, like a lily, he says like a lily among thorns. In other words, everybody else is a thorn, but you are the lily. Is my darling among the young women. She says, I am a rose. It's singular. In chapter one, she felt insecure. Chapter 2, she feels special. She feels valued. She feels treasured.

She feels cherished. There's something about when you love a woman toward that and she feels like she's the only woman in the world to you. That's when you're moving the ball forward. I am a rose. I'm like a lily among thorns. The second thing is she feels incredible. secure. She feels safe with this man. And this is so important to give her the gift of security.

Verse three, she says this, like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. Then notice what she says. I delight to what, let's all say this aloud. All of our churches, network churches help me out. She says, I do, what? I delight to sit in his shade. And then she says, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. I delight to sit in his shade. Remember, what was she insecure about? Her skin, the sun, right? And now, I feel safe under his protection. I delight to sit in his shade. I feel safe with this man. Gentlemen, you always want her to feel safe with you. I believe, men, that you're called to be really three things that provide safety. You're called to be her pastor, her provider, and her protector.

Her pastor, you set the spiritual tone. You create a passion for God. You lead prayer at the table. You open up God's word. You say we're going to church together. We're a go-to-church family. We're not a stay-at-home family. Stay-at-home parents, rarely raise go-to-church kids.

we go to church, we seek God together. You set the spiritual tone. Provider, this does not mean she doesn't contribute an income. She may make more money than you make, but you set the tone. You say we're always going to live a little bit less than we make. We're always going to be tithers. We put God first in our family and we honor him with the tithe. And she will never worry about, will we have enough money at the end of the month to pay the bills that will drive a woman crazy. You set the tone. You live beneath your means and you drive toward financial security. And then you're the protector. You're stronger. You better be stronger or should take you out. God created you to be bigger. If there is danger, you lay down your life for her. No question about it. But not only do you protect her physically, but you

protect her emotionally. You let her know, I will never hurt your heart. I will honor you. My word is good. I will cherish you. You protect her heart. And when she feels safe and when she feels special and when she feels secure, gentlemen, she will love you in a way that you ain't got no business ever earning or deserving because she is created by God to respond with a sacrificial love that will mean more to you than you could ever, ever imagine. Verse five and verse six, here's what she says. She says, strengthen me with raisins. Now let me tell you directly what raisins were. They were an aphrodisiac. Period. Do the research. Not making this up. Okay. Strengthen me with an aphrodisiac. I like that a lot.

Refresh me with apples. Then she says, for I am faint with love. I love when Amy says that to me. It really makes me feel good. I am faint with love. Okay. Then she says this. His left arm is under my head. and his right arm embraces me. May God add his blessings to the reading of his word. Where are they? She wants to give herself to this man who's given himself to her. Starting with godly character, we seek God first.

Growing trust, we love through the insecurities. Consistent encouragement. We build one another up. We're seeking God together in every single way with higher standards because we're building our relationship not on sinning together, but on seeking God together. And if you will have the courage to be different from this world, you can have something better than this world has.

But it starts with putting God first. Seek first his kingdom, his righteousness, and then everything else will be added unto you. Father, we pray today that in this first week of this message series that your Holy Spirit would begin to speak to us, God, I especially pray on our first point of attraction that godly character would be the highest value in our own hearts of what we allow you to develop,

and then what we look for in a potential person to honor you with. All of our churches today, as you reflect, in prayer on what we're talking about today. I want to zero in on godly character. If you're not married, hey, become the person you're looking for is looking for. Best way to have a great marriage is not to find the right person, but be the right person. You want God to help conform you to the image of Christ. Those of you who are married, I want to have a godly character.

All of our churches, as you listen to what God may be saying to you, you may see some areas in your own life that the Holy Spirit needs to bring correction, needs to bring healing. Maybe you need forgiveness for something. Maybe there's something that God wants to change. Above all else, God, we want to honor you. Our minds being conformed and empowered, cleansed by your word,

our hearts being purified by the presence of your Holy Spirit. We want to be godly. Not by working our way to you, but by Jesus living through us. All of our different churches today, you want to honor God. You want to honor God in your friendships. You want to honor God in your business.

You want to honor God in your relationships. You want to honor God with godly character. God strengthen us to become more like your son, Jesus. If that's you today and you say, yes, I want to become more like Christ with godly character. Would you lift up your hands right now, all of our churches? I hope every hand is lifted up. God, I thank you for a church full of people passionate about pursuing you, putting you first. Holy Spirit, have your perfect way in all of our lives.

do right now what I could never do. God just point out any areas in our own hearts that are drifting away from you. Cleanse us, God. Forgive us of our sins. I pray God that through your word, you would wash over us by the power of your Holy Spirit, we would become like your son, Jesus, not working our way to him, but letting him live through us to honor you in this world, like us godly in all that we do. as we keep praying today at all of our different churches some of you you're going to recognize right now godly does not describe you at all you look at your own life and you mean you may have grown up in church but but your pure life doesn't represent the things of god others of you you're like yeah i'm not a church

person at all and you know that's not even on my radar but something right now is drawing you toward god you you feel you feel something pulling you toward him what is that let me just tell you That's his love through His Holy Spirit, doing what he does. Maybe at different points in your life you've sensed that he was reaching out to you. Let me tell you right now, if you sense it, it's real. You're not here by accident. He's reaching out to you. He loves you.

You may think, well, first I've got to clean up my life and I've got to stop doing some bad stuff and start doing some good stuff before I can, you know, whatever and come to him. And let me tell you right now, that's not how you do it. You come to him as you are. Jesus is the perfect, sinless son of God who died for. our sins so that anyone who believes in him, anyone, no matter what you've done, would be forgiven, would be changed. That's why many of you are here today to call on him to say, you know what, I need to know God, I need His grace, I need His forgiveness, but I am not good enough.

So I surrender and I believe that Jesus was good enough. Today at all of our churches, there are those of you. You recognize your need for Him. You sense that there is more. And today, by faith, you're going to turn from your own sin and say, I know I'm not good enough, but by faith I believe Jesus was. And I surrender my life completely to him. I need his forgiveness. I need his grace. I need his mercy. My life will from this point forward not be my own. By faith, I surrender it to Jesus. All of our churches, those who say, yes, I need him. I need his grace. By faith, I give my life to him. That's you lift your hands high right now. All over the place and say, yes, that's my prayer. Right up here. God bless you. Others of you back over here in this section, right back here over this side.

Lift up your hands. I just want to meet you eye to eye. Nobody. else look around say yes sir right back here god bless you and over here man right up here praise god for you others of you who would say yes i need his grace right back here in this middle section god bless you church online you click right below me others of you today you're leaning into it you're thinking about it step across the line right now right back over here god bless you others today say yes i surrender to him everybody pray with those around you pray aloud it nobody prays alone you are now part of the family heavenly fire Father, forgive me of my sins, make me new.

I believe Jesus died for me, and He rose again so I could live for you. Fill me with your spirit so I could know you, serve you, follow you. My life is not my own. I give it to you. Thank you for new life. Now you have mine. In Jesus' name I pray. Would you all worship big.

Thank God. Welcome those today. Born into the family of God, celebrate boldly new life in Christ.